Memories Are What Keep Us Together
by Smartist
Summary: Scarlett's journey through Caraval is plagued with memories that make her who she is. The people around her bring out the colors in her world, and Scarlett remembers her past with their help. *The settings and characters belong to S.G.**Please leave reviews*
1. Chapter 1

**Caraval - Chapter 2**

Scarlett's feelings sprouted in a dark brown, turning darker as though drops of ink were mixed in, the color of fear, of anger. She flinched as Governor Dragna struck her sister for the second time, bringing Donatella to her knees, and the colors blossomed more vibrantly.

As her father stepped back from his crouching daughter, he smiled smugly, knowing that his punishments were more than persuasive. Scarlett watched as he wiped his bloody fingers on his guard's clean white shirt, the red staining the cloth in an unappealing way.

Then he turned to Scarlett, and although there wasn't much of a height difference, the governor seemed to tower over her. "Don't disappoint me again."

"I'm sorry, Father. I made a foolish mistake." Scarlett's eyes flicked to Tella's, letting her know that her sister had made a mistake as well. "I won't repeat it." _And neither will you,_ Scarlett vowed, knowing she must protect her sister fiercely.

"I hope you mean that," the governor said, putting his plum-colored gloves back on.

For a moment, Scarlett was taken backwards in time through her memories, remembering the very phrase.

"_I hope you mean that," her father had said to Scarlett's beautiful mother. There was no smug note in his voice, darker blues twirling through his voice instead._

_Scarlett had been playing with four year old Tella, both of them hiding from each other, giggling. Scarlett was behind her mother's dresser, her silky dress scraping in the tight space. She could hear Tella's running steps as she peered around to find her sister, and Scarlett stuffed her small hand in her mouth to stifle her laughter. Tella's steps faded away, and Scarlett decided she wanted to find a new spot, as this one was tight and uncomfortable. _

Besides, Tella won't come back here for a while_, she thought._

_Scarlett started to squirm out from the tight spot, and as she wriggled closer to the side, her foot got stuck. A sound of protest made its way from her mouth, but she bit her tongue to keep silent. After all, she didn't want Tella to find her. She shook her leg, trying to free her socked foot, but only succeeded in making her hot. Suddenly, the space felt more cramped, and a whimper escaped Scarlett._

_She shook harder, getting scared now, and called out tentatively, "Mama!" hoping her mother was in the room and would hear her. But no one came to Scarlett's rescue, and her foot started to hurt. Sweat was beading on her back, and Scarlett felt it trickle down her spine. She thought she felt something brush her ankle, and she saw shades of brown and dark purple edge her vision._

_She pushed harder, but the heavy dresser didn't budge. Tears of frustration and fear escaped the corners of Scarlett's eyes. "Mama!" she cried, louder this time. She knocked against the back of the dresser, hoping Paloma would hear her. "Mama!"_

"_Scarlett?" _

_Paloma's face appeared over Scarlett's, her mother peering over the dresser, Scarlett tilting her head back to see her. The dark colors vanished as fast as they came, and bright yellows filtered behind Paloma._

"_Mama!" Scarlett said, her small voice overwhelmed with happiness. "I'm stuck!" She reached out her free hand to her mother, waiting expectantly to pull her out._

_But Paloma didn't reach back. She just looked at Scarlett with a curious gleam in her eye, her brown iris darkening._

"_Help me out?" Scarlett said, more of a question than a command._

_Paloma stared at Scarlett's small outstretched hand, and Scarlett felt a dark feeling shudder through her, a ghost exposed to the chilling moonlight. Paloma's hand remained at her side, and her brow lowered, her lovely pink lips tightening._

"_Mama!" Scarlett said, not understanding why her lovely mother wasn't helping her. "It's hot and scary here. I'm stuck!"_

_Paloma blinked, and reached out her hands to her daughter. "Oh no, darling. Let me help you out." She pulled the dresser back, giving Scarlett more room, and pulled her out, grabbing Scarlett's sweat-slicked hands. _

_Scarlett burst from the dresser like a puppet from a music box, free at last. She fell into Paloma's cool arms, savoring the chilly skin against her own. For a second, she lay there, then looked up into Paloma's eyes. "Why didn't you help me?" she whimpered. _

_Paloma smiled softly. "But I did, darling."_

"_Why did you take a long time? It was very scary."_

"_I was just thinking of the best way to get you out," Paloma said, kissing Scarlett on the head. "I didn't want to hurt you."_

_Scarlett buried her head in her mother's neck. "I thought you would leave me," she said, her voice muffled in Paloma's skin._

_Paloma pulled back, and Scarlett still remembered the determined fix of her eyes, the way her arms tightened around her. "I will never, ever leave you, my darling, darling girl."_

_Startling both of them, the governor said behind the embracing family, "I hope you mean that." Paloma had stood, and both of them had talked in quiet voices. Scarlett had returned to Tella, recovered from her frightening experience by Paloma's words. Life had continued as it always had, until Paloma had left the family, had left Scarlett, a few years later._

_Paloma had lied. She _had _left her darling, darling girl._

It was only years later that Scarlett considered that she had lied when Scarlett was hiding too.

That was why Scarlett protected her sister so fiercely. She had lived with a lie, and she wanted to make sure Tella never lived like that.

_This fiction is just a rewrite of a few moments in the series, with an accompanying memory. If there are any requests for me to rewrite a chapter, just leave a review._

_Thank you *blows kiss*_


	2. Chapter 2

**Caraval - Chapter 13**

Whispers of dark red and brown twined through the air as Scarlett searched for the man who had stolen her precious earrings.

"Here, let me hold those." Scarlett turned to see a pretty pregnant girl with strawberry-blond hair and pinked cheeks next to her. Scarlett had already ignored her previous offer to hold her things, but as the thief ran farther away, his heavy steps thumping on the steps, she began to think it wasn't such a bad idea.

"I'll be right there when you get back," the girl added, reassuring Scarlett enough to dump her collection into the girl's arms.

Scarlett ran to the staircase, her shoes making a light _clump clump_ noise on the creaky stairs. As she dashed through the doors to La Serpiente, she caught her breath, gazing at the large crowds below, searching for the brown bowler hat that identified the man who had stolen her earrings. Her gaze roamed the wandering people, and her heart dripped in sorrow, the stars winking in pleasure for her pain.

_Scarlet stones for Scarlett,_ her mother had said.

_Scarlett had been holding tight to her mother's arms, peering at the sparkling stones in Paloma's hands. The jewels were draped around slender fingers, and even so young, Scarlett had felt the desire for something so beautiful to belong to her._

"_Your father gave me these because scarlet was my favorite color," Paloma said, her voice soft and draped in love, though whether for the governor or Scarlett she didn't know._

_Scarlett smiled and reached out to touch the stones, hearing them tinkle against one another like chimes in the wind. Paloma fastened them to Scarlett's ears, and as she rose from her knees to go to Tella, Scarlett tugged on her arm._

"_What is it, darling?" Paloma asked. "I need to go."_

"_Why?" Scarlett said. She wanted her mother to stay, to love her like all mothers were supposed to. "Why can't you stay with me?"_

_Paloma gave Scarlett a look so sad and loving that it could have been written in the stars. "I would if I could, love." She didn't say anything beyond that._

"_Will you come back?" Scarlett asked, her tiny lips quivering, her vision clouded by dark red, the color of bleeding hearts._

_Paloma smiled softly at Scarlett. "I will see you again, love. I promise."_

_Scarlett gave Paloma a hug, her innocent heart believing the sweet words wrapped in a lie. _

_Paloma stood up and Scarlett looked up at her._

"_Will you come back?" The governor asked, his rough voice spinning blues and greens in the air, Scarlett feeling the way he did._

_Paloma had stood chest to chest to the governor, the small height difference clear from Scarlett's perspective._

"_Marcello," Paloma said, her voice stern but not regretful. "We've already talked about this."_

"_Talked about what?" Scarlett interrupted, tugging on Paloma's arm._

_Paloma looked down at Scarlett, and the hardness in her eyes softened as she looked at her daughter. "Just something between me and your father," she soothed. _

"_Something?" the governor said. "Everything."_

_Paloma ushered Scarlett away as she prepared for another argument with her ex-spouse, and Scarlett had clutched the jewels on her ears, somehow knowing this would be the last thing of her mother._

She would know just how wrong she was years later.

Scarlett searched for the man in the brown bowler hat, and tears of frustration sprung to her eyes. Paloma had been the center of Scarlett's life, besides Tella, and Scarlett couldn't have her fade from her memory.

But of course all good things came to an end, and Scarlett gave up her search, her mind fixed on the leave of her mother and how that good thing had come to an end to.

It would only be ages later that Scarlett would remember the stiffness of the way Paloma had said "_your father"_.

_By the way, I have read __Finale__, and it was absolutely amazing. I am thinking of writing an epilogue for it, but for now I'll stick with this fiction. If there are any chapters from it that you would like a flashback of Scarlett's in, please review or PM. Thank you!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Caraval - Chapter 15**

Scarlett stood at the edge of the steps, ready to climb up them as Nigel, the tattooed man that had offered to read her future, lounged on a pile of large cushions. There was something alarming about him, about the way he could read Scarlett's future, that brought wisps of distrusting dark oranges in the edge of Scarlett's already cloudy sight.

"Where is your ball of crystal? Or those cards people use?" Scarlett asked, wondering why Nigel was seated before her with nothing but his bare hands.

The urge to leave cascaded on her again as Nigel gave her an amused look and said, "You have much fear."

Scarlett immediately denied that statement. "No, I'm just cautious." She tried not to show how much Nigel's words hit home. "And I'm trying to figure out how all this works."

"Because you are afraid," Nigel said, and Scarlett did her best not to flinch at the knowledge in his voice, as though he knew the troubles plaguing her, that had been plaguing her for years, since Paloma had left, and Tella becoming her responsibility.

'_Tella!" Scarlett called, fear quavering her voice. Tella had gone off somewhere on the island, and Scarlett feared for her. She was only twelve, Tella eleven, but Tella had been making rash decisions lately, and the governor wasn't too kind with his punishments._

_The governor, after his wife left him, had gone mad, searching everywhere, tearing apart villages and homes in search of his wife. Over two years later, he had become subdued, and had channeled his violence into something else: cruelty. And who better to inflict it on than his two daughters._

"_Tella!" Scarlett shouted again, her voice scratching. The estate wasn't massive, but it was certainly quite large, and her sister could be anywhere. Tella had just caused a ruckus by the docks, and the guards manning it had informed the governor. _

_Scarlett searched in vain for her sister, her wide eyes scrambling to find the one she cared about the most, rusty reds fogging her vision as she turned her head around. She ran up a set of steps, and nearly fell back down when she saw Tella right there, the governor holding onto her arm tightly._

"_Tella," Scarlett said tightly, trying to mask her fear. "I was looking all over for you." She looked at her sister, and her heart blanched at the frightened look on Tella's face._

"_Scarlett," said the governor, his deep voice unlocking fearful blacks in Scarlett. "Do you know what your sister did?" He sounded genuinely curious, and Scarlett knew she should respond, whether with the truth or not._

"_I - No," she stuttered, unnerved by the look on her father's face._

_He smiled then, and it was a cold smile, the smile you would expect a captor to give his prisoner. "Tella," he said, turning to his younger daughter. "You made a mistake, didn't you?"_

_Tella didn't respond for a moment, and Scarlett silently begged her not to say anything stupid._

"_Yes," Tella admitted, her face a mask of anger._

"_You've been making many mistakes lately, haven't you?" the governor taunted._

"_Yes," Tella said again, her voice duller. Scarlett couldn't do anything but watch._

"_I've asked you to stop many times, haven't I?"_

"_I wouldn't say you _asked_," Tella said, and Scarlett felt her stomach drop._

_The governor's face turned angrier, but he reigned it in, his expression cold and cruel once more. He sighed. "I was hoping you would listen to me, daughter." He only said _daughter _when something bad was going to happen. "But it seems I must convince you another way." The governor let go of Tella's arm, and grabbed Scarlett's, startling both girls._

_Scarlett didn't say anything, didn't try to wrench her arm out of his grip like Tella might've. Instead she stood passively, more afraid for her sister than for herself._

_The governor raised a hand, and Scarlett saw it coming a split second before it hit her face, hard. It jarred her, and her cheek stung. She could already imagine the red splotch that would be there._

"_No, wait…" Tella said, the dismay written plainly on her face. But she couldn't stop the governor as he slapped Scarlett again, two more times. Then he let her go._

_Scarlett raised her hand to her face, feeling the tender skin that would start to bruise. She blinked back tears before she even felt them, her tongue bleeding from where she bit it._

"_Every time," the governor said, his voice loud and smug, "Every time one of you does something you shouldn't, the other will be punished. Tella, convincing enough for you?" The arrogance in his tone increased as he looked at his naughtier daughter._

_Tella, for once, didn't have anything to say. She just looked at the pink marring Scarlett's cheek. _

_The governor smirked and dropped Scarlett's arm, walking down the steps. As soon as he was out of sight, Tella went to Scarlett._

"_I'm sorry," she said, her voice thick._

_Scarlett shook her head softly to tell her it was fine. She was fine. And the important thing was that Tella was too._

_Every time one of them misbehaved, their father always found them and always doled out punishments with ease. Every time._

Scarlett _was_ afraid. She feared that her father would find her, even now, even on the most magical place in the world.  
Noticing Nigel still looking at her, Scarlett hastily mended her expression, knowing it had changed while she remembered a time years past.

"Your eyes keep finding the painted lock on my lips," Nigel continued after a pause. "You feel trapped and unsafe."

_If only you knew_, Scarlett thought, her want to leave this place increasing. _If only you knew._

_Finale was amazing, wasn't it? I will write an epilogue, but for now I have too much on my plate. Thanks for reading!_


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